DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. - Novemeber 4, 2010 - DeVry University, one of the largest, private sector universities in North America, with more than 85,000 students enrolled in the United States and Canada, and Practice Fusion, the fastest growing Electronic Health Records community in the country, with more than 40,000 users in 50 states, have teamed to provide DeVry Health Information Technology (HIT) students with real-world training via Practice Fusion's web-based EHR system. With healthcare organizations across the country making the switch from paper charts to EHRs, DeVry HIT students are now primed to capitalize on the demand for specialists trained on the latest medical record technology.

"Practice Fusion really surprised me," said DeVry University student, who, as the wife of an active-duty military serviceman, chose the online HIT program because of the flexible scheduling DeVry offers its students. "I definitely never expected to have hands-on practice like that with an online course. The video tutorials are also very informative and really help you to understand what this career field is all about."

According to DeVry University, the school introduced Practice Fusion this summer to online students in its Health Information Fundamentals Practicum (HIT-170) course, providing them with additional tools to facilitate their success in the program.

"It's critical that our HIT students receive as much hands-on, real-world experience as they can before entering the healthcare workforce," said Donna Loraine, provost and vice president of academic affairs at DeVry University. "DeVry University is committed to providing students with a career-focused curriculum that meets the evolving landscape of US healthcare. EHRs have the potential to deliver more efficient and safer care for patients and doctors - DeVry graduates are ready for the switch."

With Bureau of Labor Statistics naming Health IT as one of the 20 fastest-growing occupations through 2012 and the Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT projecting that healthcare providers will need 50,000 additional IT workers to meet the meaningful use criteria to get government incentives for implementing EHRs, Practice Fusion's CEO, Ryan Howard, is encouraged by EHR's adoption into health IT program curricula by nationally-reaching schools like DeVry University.

"Electronic Health Record systems deliver real benefits to the US healthcare system - from reducing health care costs to preventing medical errors," said Howard. "We are thrilled to be working with DeVry University to arm students who represent the future of health information technology with quality education and training on our EHR system."